Life in the Mind of a Modest Genius

A Day That Will Live in Infamy

It's quite possible I'm not using that word correctly in this instance.  Here's what we get according to Dictionary.com:

in-fa-my [in-fuh-mee] -noun: extremely bad reputation public reproach, or strong condemnation as the result of a shameful, criminal, or outrageous act

So maybe that is a little extreme to put that label on 2/11.  Not everything that was associated with it was that nefarious.  In fact, some of it was rather exciting.  I just found it so intriguing that 2/11 is now a date with so many historic events having happened on that it that I had to bring attention to it.

It started with the text I received yesterday at work.  Elijah was extremely stoked that he was getting his braces removed.  He hadn't even had them that long (less than a year).  However, it probably seemed like an eternity to him.  Personally, I can't tell the difference in his teeth.  At least not in pictures.  Still, the fact that that happened yesterday was pretty monumental for him so I'll count it as well. 

There was also the fact that Grandma's birthday is on 2/11 every year.  I have already given her an appropriate shout out in the previous post.  Little did she know that she shared that day with so many other renoun moments in time.  Oddly enough, all which occurred during the same year...

2/11/1990 - Nelson Mandela was released from prison.  After having 27 years of the prime of his life taken from him, Mandela was freed in the wake of a changing South Africa.  It always amazed me that his wife stuck with him and/or stayed married with him all that time but then they divorce shortly after he is released.  There couldn't have been a better example of absence making the heart grow fonder.

2/11/1990 - Buster Douglas KOs Mike Tyson in the 10th round.  No one gave Buster any chance whatsoever.  Who would when his nickname was "Buster"?!  It was supposed to be just a tune-up fight for what was slated to be the real match-up: Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson.  However, in the Tokyo Dome, Douglas scored arguably one of the greatest upsets at all when he floored the seemingly invincible Iron Mike for the ten count.  Neither boxing, or Tyson, have ever been the same since.

2/11/1990 - Dominque Wilkins regains his Slam Dunk title.  It was All-Star weekend in Miami.  Nique was undoubtedly still seethng from his nail-biter just two years prior when he and His Airness went head-to-head.  He came up on the short end what is STILL the best Slam Dunk contest ever and was out for revenge.  It's just too bad that Mike was on a temporary suspension due to gambling allegations retired for the first time and didn't compete.

But the one event that DEFINITELY deserves the "infamous" title for 2/11/1990 date.  My little over-drinking incident.  It wouldn't even do it justice to try to sum it up in a couple of sentences.  You just wouldn't get the full picture.  Click here to get all the gory details.  Yes, 2/11 holds some very diverse memories.

Too Much To Twit

This past holiday season was the first time I ever realized those bell-ringing people don't get paid.  That's some serious dedication to humanitarianism there.  You couldn't pay me enough to stand out in the cold ringing a bell for pennies, then come to find out they don't get paid AT ALL?!  Well more power to all of y'all doing it.

I'm still not sold on this new Paul Rhoads coach for Iowa State.  They are putting WAY too much stock into the fact that he's from Ames so that means he'll stick around.  I don't care where he's from, the fact   that he'll stick around won't matter much if he keeps losing too.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald Ellis had decided that Bernie Madoff will remain at large.  He wont' be revoking Crazy Bernie's bail.  So while folks are out of their life savings that he stole, the gets to continue living in his multi-million dollar home.  What a country we live in!

Don't read too much into the image attached to this post.  I just came across it on the net one day and thought it was a pretty intriguing piece of work.  Although there are many days that I do feel like that.

I'm pretty stoked about the upcoming I'll Make Me a World in Iowa coming up in a couple of weeks.  I had to miss last year because I was in Bloomington.  This time around Vivica A. Fox and Howard Hewett will be the headliners.  Pretty safe to see the teeny bopper troublemakers won't be sticking around for that.  And it's free admission again.  I wonder how they're able to pull that off?

If I did that website ranking right now, Facebook would be a pretty easy #2.  I'm really diggin' that status update function and being to respond directly to other people's updates as well as your own.  One of these days, I may even put an updated photo album of my own out there.  Maybe.

Too bad the Inauguration has to be on the 20th instead of the 19th.  My company gives us King Day off, but not Obama Day. Still contemplating if I want to use Obama Day as one of my personal days so I can watch all of the events of the day live on CNN.

Because Sometimes You Just Have a Jules Moment

So I knew my post about the whole pilot thing would spark some controversy.  That may be putting it lightly.  Some folks done got down right perturbed.  That's all fine and good, but some folks got to learn how to be respectful.  You come up in my house (i.e., this blog), you don't call me out my name.  Express your opinion but do it like you have some dang sense.  That's what had me thinking about one of my favorits scenes from "Pulp Fiction".  Because some folks could really use that Jules speech... 

Real Quick Like...

Maybe He Should Stick to Cockfighting
Here I was thinking that Roy Jones, Jr. had retired for good.  Then again you have to remember that in the world of boxing, there is no such a thing.  At least these cats should pick their opponents better when they do choose to re-enter the ring.  This image just says it all.  Apparently, Roy Jones didn't learn anything from watching this Joe Calzaghe kid best Bernard Hopkins.  Or maybe Roy got a false sense of hope from watching Hopkins take out the younger Kelly Pavlik.  Whatever the case may be, it was very discouraging to hear that Calzaghe was using Jones' old tricks on Jones.  I'm guessing right about now, that offer to go up against Mike Tyson for a semi-decent payday isn't looking too bad for Roy.

Let's Go OutBack Tonight
That's all you hear coming from Iowa City now.  Let me go on the record as saying that I HATE that jingle.  There is hardly anything much more annoying.  Anyway, I was just joking with co-workers this week that there was no way the Hawks would get past Penn State.  Even if twas in Kinnick Stadium.  The Nittany Lions just seemed to be too much on a mission for another national championship for Joe Pa.  So much for that theory.  I want so much to be happy for the Hawks since it is a team reppin' Iowa but those darn fans are STILL so dang obnoxious.  So now I'm back to hoping they don's sniff any part of any bowl game.  And yes, those sour grapes do taste good.

Down, Down, Down...Gas Prices Going Down
As I'm driving home today, I notice the latest price drop:  we are now at $1.79/gallon here!  I apologize if I keep harping on that, but it's just so incredulous.  Especially given the timing.  You all know that I tend to be a conspiracy theorist.  I was confident that the only reason gas prices started falling in the first place was to make people think the economy was getting better so that McCain could win back some supporters.  That apparently didn't work so following that logic, the prices should have started going back up, right?  Well give them time.  They can't make it look too obvious.

So Sad
I can't wait to hear the story behind this one.  This kid was only 8-years-old and he shot not only his 29-year-old father but also another guy who was in the house.  It's not that police aren't releasing a motive, it's just that they don't know what it is.  Or they're not telling us.  Everytime I see stories like this one, it's just too hard to fathom that some little boy the same age as G could pick up a gun and commit murder.  Not once but twice.  This may be really bad to say but I sure hope it was because his father and the guy there were some type of molesters.  That's the only scenario I could see it being justified.  Even then, it is still so hard to envision a little kid being capable of something like that.  Prayers go out to the family.

Random Ramblings

Well the lappy is down for the count for a minute. That means I will have to find more creative means of posting, at least temporarily. Things could be worse I suppose...

***

Watching this special on the History Channel about the history of the KKK. They showed an image of a brotha getting beaten and that's when G happened to walk in.

"Why are they doing that?" he asked.

"Because they're ignorant, racist and don't like people that aren't like them," I explained.

"I'm glad we don't have people like that in our neighborhood."

I couldn't help but get more incensed watching a historical timeline of all their atrocities. However, I also felt encouraged by our future knowing that Obama's nomination is a definite positive step in the right direction. Hopefully...

***

Prior to that special, I watched a History Channel special on gangs. There was a segment on Asian gangs that I'm sure was intended to show how deadly they were. Instead, it made me hungry for some Chinese food. Mmmm...General's Chicken...

Delivered by T-Mobile Hobbits

Amish Randomness

I contemplated whether I should take this photo or not.  That's why dude is well past me in the shot.  I actually saw him coming a while away and it just fascinated me.  I had to capture it on film so I could elaborate on it a bit. 

I was returning from Kansas City with Mariah and Elijah and made my customary stop at the halfway point in Bethany, MO.  Out of all the times I have made the trip and subsequent stop, I had never seen any Amish type around. 

I don't even know if he is Amish or not.  He was too far away for me to get a real good look.  I'm just assuming he was due to the fact that he was wearing their hot-a gear in some HOT weather.  That and the fact that he was sporting horses instead of a more modern mode of transportation.

But here's what was getting me...they weren't even his transportation  There was no buggy attached to these horses.  He wasn't riding them.  He was walking behind them as if he were just taking them for a walk.  Along one of the busiest roads off the highway.

I couldn't figure for the life of me what he was doing.  Was he taking them for a walk?  Training them for walking along the highway next to busy cars?  No clue whatsoever.  If any Amish-type experts out there know, I would be curious to find out.  It was just a rather arbitrary sight that I thought was interesting enough to snap a photo. 

Some Friday Levity

I had posted some .gif images in the past but forgot to actually configure the posting correctly so that they work.  Finally found a good one to use where I could do it properly this time.  It couldn't have been a better display either...

 

They Must Like Giving Me Aneurisms

It all started last Thursday when I noticed there was no picture coming thru on the big screen tv.  That's the one that has the DVR connected to it.  Instead, I was getting that dreaded message "Call Customer Service".  I checked the internet connection and it was down too.  That could only mean one thing.  Someone forgot to pay the  Qwest bill.

Needless to say the bill got paid as soon as possible.  That ended up being Friday at 3:30 pm.  You would think that would be enough time for them to reconnect the service, right?  You would think.

I got the runaround that it takes 2 hours to 24 hours to reconnect.  Come Saturday morning, still no service.  Not only that, conveniently, the department that is in charge   of processing re-connects isn't open on the weekends.  I had to wait until Monday morning for satellite tv AND internet.  Even though they were paid while they were still open on Friday.  The seed of anger has now been planted.

Come Monday, I call first thing in the morning when they open at 8am.  The customer service rep abruptly apologizes for the delay.  Says he will make sure it gets turned back on right away and that yes, it should have been done Friday.  Given my history with them from the time when I first tried to get service, I expected the worst.  Not so oddly enough, that's just what I got.

I returned home from work this evening to find that neither the dish or the DSL internet was working.  I make a "polite" call to customer service.  Even though payment was made Friday, that rep didn't request re-connection at that time.  That wasn't done until I called this morning.  That's when the supposed 2 to 24 hour clock started.  Since it had been 8 hours since I called, apparently it was going to be closer to the 24 hours before it would be connected.  I was livid.

The rep tried to tell me it still wasn't connected because there were "different factors involved" that he wasn't aware of that could be holding it up.  He tried to tell me it wasn't done processing.  It still had a few more systems to go thru.  What the heck?!  A request to re-connect has to go thru half a dozen systems to get turned back on?  That's some bull.

I demanded to talk to someone who could tell me what these so-called "different factors" were.  He put me thru to some Credit Management area.  A much nicer (and evidently more intelligent) lady abruptly called DirecTV.  The dish was back to working again in less than a few minutes.  She typed in some info on the computer and the internet was back to working in less than an hour.

It never ceases to amaze me how the "squeaky wheel getting the oil" never fails.  It's times like that when my not so pleasant demeanor comes in handy.  I just hate being told by some entry level flunkie that "there's nothing we can do" when I know full well there is.  It just kills me how they have no problem taking our money now but then trying to make the service available later. 

I may have been born yesterday, but I stayed up all night. 

Post-Christmas Rants

I guess the media figured one day off was enough for the Christmas season.  As soon after we get bombarded with tons of feel-good stories, they are right back to giving us heavy doses of the all the evils in the world.  Some of them are just too hard to believe that they could occur so close to the birthday of Jesus.  You know the saying "no rest for the weary"?  It should be more like no rest for the wretched...

Another Omaha tragedy

What is going in Omaha lately?!  Are the crazy folks trying to manifest a new murder capital in the Midwest by showing out?  Omaha police were called to a house in north Omaha and arrived to find a 20-year-old woman coming out of the bedroom saying she had been sexually assaulted.  The man in question came out the bedroom attempting to get her again WHILE THE OFFICERS WERE STANDING RIGHT THERE!  They later found out he had two bodies in his basement and they were relatives of the woman that managed to escape.  The mall JUST opened up after recovering from the one maniac and now this nut pops up. 

Helmets do help

Every now and then, I will make a comment (or sometimes an entire post) that I end up regretting.  It doesn't occur often but even once is too much.  That tends to happen when you vent about whatever crosses your mind.  Anyway, I once talked about how we overdo it with the protective gear on our children.  I still mean it; however, there are clearly some instances when it is necessary.  7-year-old Jackie Solis of San Antonio was riding her brand new bike she had just gotten for Christmas when she was hit by a car and killed.  On Christmas day.  At least the driver was humane enough to stop immediately and try to help.  Unfortunately, Jackie died from severe head injuries.  She was not wearing a helmet.  Of course no one could truly say if it would have saved her life, but it certainly could not have hurt.

When animals attack

What would one of these Miscellaneous Ramblings be without an entry about some Cali news, right?  In San Francisco, two men were mauled by an escaped tiger at the San Francisco Zoo.  Another zoo visitor was killed Tuesday by the same tiger.  I first thought this was a misprint when I read it.  The zoo is really open on Christmas day?  I wonder if an event like this will make them think twice about doing that again.  Sure, it could have happened on any day and maybe it was just a coincidence that that is when it happened.  I'm thinking not though.  Most places have skeleton crews on holidays.  I'll bet that the staffing on that day had a lot to do with what contributed to that tiger escaping. 

They probably should have stuck to just re-making "La Bamba"

I had no clue it was so dangerous being a Mexican musician.  There was just a story on CNN about how at least 13 Mexican musicians have been killed since June 2006.  The most recent just a couple of weeks ago.  All of them were said to have had songs about cocaine that local drug-lords probably weren't too fond of.  One of them was a trumpeter who was found with a bag on his head.  A trumpeter?!  That's like the Gambino family getting upset about a Kenny G song.  Did they find hidden messages in the notes or something?  Whatever it is, all I thought about after hearing about it was about my L.B. Duonne passing away down there.  I'm sure there may be some parts of Mexico that are historic and possibly even beautiful.  However, when you couple news like this along with the fact that there are constantly so many of its citizens trying to get over here, I think I'll pass on visiting there anytime soon.

Been a While...

But yes, time for a triumphant return of some Miscellaneous Ramblings.  Too much stuff going on for me not to mention something about them, so here's a few thoughts...

The Kanye West breakdown

I hadn't said anything up to this point about the passing of Kanye's mother, but I'm sure you have all seen the news by now.  It was due to complications from "allegedly" cosmetic surgery.  It's too bad the surgeon that operated on her was a brotha because it's just a matter of time before Kanye (financially) rips him a new one.  Anyway, Kanye soldiered on and kept performing during this aftermath.  It finally caught up with him at a show in Paris when he was set to perform the song "Hey Momma".  He broke down and started crying in front of thousands of fans.  In the video, you can see and hear the fans offering their support.  I never lost a parent, but I TOTALLY feel him.  Sometimes when an emotion overcomes you, you have no control over when and where you breakdown.  As men, we are susceptible to it as well.  Prayers go out to the entire West family.

Vick Goes to jail

Michael Vick decided to get a jump-start on his sentencing by turning himself into authorities Monday to begin his jail time. He's looking at 12-18 months.  At first, I wasn't understanding the motive behind his actions.  It was just a few days before Thanksgiving.  You would think he would want to at least spend that important Holiday with family and friends before heading off to the pen for so long.  Then it occurred to me that what he's trying to do is get his time in now so he can hopefully get sprung before the NFL season begins next year.  I'm sure he's thinking there is still a chance he can get reinstated in time to play for someone in 2008.  It is a long shot, but I'm thinking NFL commish Roger Goodell could still lift that indefinite suspension if the timing does work out.  Not sure who would pick Vick up though.  Honestly, I hate to say it, but I hope the Chiefs are in the running.

Boys are supposed to be boys

Every now and then, I will come across a story in the news that just shocks the living mess out of me.  This child-rape case in Ackworth, GA was definitely one of those.  An 8-year-old and 9-year-old boy raped their 11-year-old neighbor.  EIGHT AND NINE!  G just turned 7.  That is like him in less than year doing something like that.  How in the world does a child that age even have that type mentality to do something like that?!  They are supposed to be into the Transformers craze or just getting heavy into sports at that age.  I can't even fathom how a boy that young would have the capabilities to do something like that, let alone the criminal mindset.  One of the fathers of the one the boys is saying the girl made up the incident to cover up her own behavior.  I hope for those boys' sake that that is the truth.  Of course then that would mean there's an 11-year-old girl behaving irresponsibly.  Either way you look it, it's a horrible situation.

No Bowl game for you!

That may be a little drastic and/or premature.  There is still a possibility that the Iowa Hawkeyes will get a 7th consecutive bowl bid.  There are about 200 bowl games out there now so they are likely to end up at a Castor Oil Prune Bowl or a YouTube Blueberry Bowl.  How do you lose to a 4-6 Western Michigan team AT HOME?!  I swore my co-worker was pulling my leg when he told me Monday Iowa had lost.  That just seemed too incredulous.  I don't even want to hear the argument that ISU has a worse record so we have no room to talk.  We have players trying to get used to a new coach and a new system.  Ferentz has been at Iowa for how long now?  Looks like somebody should have been a bit more focused instead of drooling over a certain Michigan position.

Speaking of Toilet Bowls...

The man who became famous as Mr. Whipple passed away this Monday at 91-years-old.  When I was coming up, it seemed like those "Please, don't squeeze the Charmin" commercials seemed to be on every five minutes.  Quite frankly, they were tha bomb.  Or it could just be that it's my nostalgia flaring up again.  I didn't realize he made more than 500 of them joints?!  I had also forgotten that he was the frequent drunk on several episodes of "Bewitched".  He was one of the few mortals that always seemed to be around whenever witchcraft popped off.  Nevertheless, he will always be known as the toilet paper guy and thanks to him, that saying is still all I think of when I see Charmin in stores now.  And yes, I find myself squeezing it just to be spiteful.  Rest in peace, Mr. Whipple.